Cat survives crossbow shot to head

A Georgia cat earned a new name after using at least one of its nine lives to survive a crossbow bolt to the skull.

Floyd County Animal Control officer Matt Cordle was on patrol Saturday when he got a 911 call about a cat that had been shot in the head and was still walking around, according to the Rome News-Tribune.

Cordle said in his 18-year career he’d never seen an animal survive such an injury.

The resident who called 911 said he regularly feeds the cat when it comes by, the newspaper reported.

Because he didn’t seem affected and still rubbed against Cordle in a loving manner, the officer called a rescue group for help.

An X-ray shows a cat's injury after being shot in the head with a crossbow. (Credit: Channel 2 Action News)

Kristi LaRue with Floyd Felines told Channel 2 Action News she was shocked someone would do such a thing and amazed the cat was still alive.

“He is still purring and being sweet,” LaRue posted on Facebook. “We are naming him Floyd Mayweather because we are going to make him a fighter to beat this!”

After sedating Mayweather, the veterinarian, Dr. Martin Rysavy, pulled the bolt out and applied a bandage.

“We ruled out brain injury,” Rysavy told Channel 2. “That was our major concern. However, he's not out of the woods.”

Complications from infection or internal bleeding to the brain could put Mayweather at risk, Rysavy said.

Floyd County police hope to recover DNA evidence or tips to identify a suspect in the cruelty case.

LaRue believes whoever is responsible would do it again.

“Somebody needs to be stopped,” she said. “They need to understand that this is not okay. It's not okay to treat an animal like that. It's cruelty."

In other news:

A Yale professor is in trouble after the Associated Press received a copy of an inappropriate photo. AP said the photo showed Flavio Uribe, an assistant professor, and several graduate students. They were were two severed heads on the table, the AP reported. The use of cadavers is an established part of medical training. A Yale official said the selfie was "an egregious violation of Yale policy."